Mike Gillis was fired Tuesday as president and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

Photograph by: Mark Blinch
, THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER — The end came swiftly and suddenly for Mike Gillis, who was fired Tuesday as president and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

Gillis, 53, held the position for almost six years and the team enjoyed tremendous success under his leadership. However, the Canucks fell on hard times this season, especially during the second half, and were officially eliminated from the playoffs Monday in a 3-0 lacklustre loss to the Anaheim Ducks. They also had two brief and unsuccessful playoff appearances in the springs of 2012 and 2013 in which they won just one of nine games.

The announcement of Gillis's departure came in a press release from Canucks Sports and Entertainment just before noon.

"On behalf of my entire family, I would like to sincerely thank Mike Gillis for his hard work and the many contributions he made on and off the ice during his tenure," owner Francesco Aquilini said in the release. "The Vancouver Canucks had success under Mike's leadership, and we nearly reached our ultimate goal. But I believe we have reached a point where a change in leadership and new voice is needed."

Assistant GMs Laurence Gilman and Lorne Henning both survived the Gillis firing. Gilman was a Gillis hire while Henning was a holdover from the Dave Nonis regime. Aquilini has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at Rogers Arena.

Rumours of a shakeup in Canucks management began early Tuesday morning with former captain Trevor Linden being mentioned as a candidate for team president even before the Gillis firing was made public. Linden was appearing on television at the time, promoting another of his fitness centres, and denied having spoken to the Aquilini family about a job with the team.

"I haven't and it's interesting," Linden told Global TV. "I think one of the things is when teams struggle, there's lots of speculation. For me, I've been rumoured to do a lot of things."

Linden, who turns 44 Friday and has been in private business since retiring as a player, did not close the door on a possible return to the NHL, especially in Vancouver. He is considered the front-runner to take over the hockey operations department.

"I've always said to people if the opportunity was right and the time was right, I'd have to seriously consider it," Linden explained. "I love the city. I came here when I was 18 years old, it's been my home. It means a lot to me. This province means a lot to me. I didn't want to play anywhere else. I'm not prepared to leave here. "

Another ex-Canuck captain, Markus Naslund, recently left his job as GM of MoDo of the Swedish Hockey League and he, too, said he had not been in communication with Canucks ownership.

"I have not had any contact with the Aquilinis," Naslund wrote in a text message.

Bob Nicholson, who just resigned from Hockey Canada last week, and one-time Tampa Bay and Calgary GM Jay Feaster were other names being tossed around in the immediate aftermath of the Gillis firing.

Feaster made no secret of his desire to return as an NHL general manager. He was dismissed by the Flames last December. He and Canucks head coach John Tortorella won a Stanley Cup together in 2004 with the Lightning.

"Certainly I want to manage again," Feaster told a Toronto radio station. "I've enjoyed every minute of my time as a GM. It's a difficult and demanding job. I certainly would relish the opportunity somewhere along the way to work with Torts."

The Canucks are currently in the process of renewing season tickets and Aquilini attempted to reach out to his paying customers in the Tuesday announcement. During Monday night’s loss to the Ducks, fans began chanting “Fire Gillis!” midway through the third period and then began to vacate Rogers Arena well before the final buzzer.

"I also want to thank our fans for their support for the Vancouver Canucks through a difficult and frustrating season," Aquilini wrote. "We haven't met their expectations or ours. We are committed to bringing the Stanley Cup to Vancouver for our fans and we will continue to do everything possible to reach that goal."

Under Gillis's guidance, the team won five consecutive Northwest Division titles, two President's Trophies and reached the Stanley Cup final in 2011, losing in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins. Gillis was named NHL executive of the year for the 2010-11 season.

The following season, the Canucks won a second consecutive Presidents’ Trophy but went out in five games to the eventual Cup champion L.A. Kings. Last season, shortened to 48 games by a lockout, the Canucks slipped to fourth in the Western Conference, 22nd on the power play and were bounced in four straight by the San Jose Sharks. Gillis sacked head coach Alain Vigneault and replaced him with Tortorella.

This season began well under Tortorella. the Canucks were 23-11-6 at the 40-game mark and sitting comfortably in a playoff position. That was followed by a 5-16-4 swoon, a rash of injuries to key players, an outage of offence and a drop down the standings that led to Monday's elimination of the team and Tuesday's dismissal of Gillis.

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